Ravens Sitting Pretty At The Half

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A big second quarter for the Ravens staked Baltimore a 17-point lead at halftime, and it was largely because of running back Ray Rice.

Rice has been absolutely spectacular. He had a 59-yard touchdown burst in the period, and followed that with a 15-yard rush and a 30-yard reception on the Ravens’ ensuing series.

Baltimore got the ball back quickly after Rice’s score when Lions quarterback Daunte Culpepper underthrew a deep ball to Calvin Johnson and cornerback Chris Carr ran under the floater.

Rice then went to work, going off right tackle Oniel Cousins for the 15-yard gain and taking a short pass from Joe Flacco through Detroit’s defense for 30 yards.

The Ravens tried to give the ball to Rice so he could get the touchdown, but he was stopped on run up the gut and overthrown to by Flacco.

At halftime, Rice already has 204 total yards, the second-most in Ravens history in a single half. Qadry Ismail racked up 210 yards on four receptions in a half in 1999.

Something to watch for in the second half is Detroit running back Kevin Smith and his quest to top the century mark. Smith owns 79 yards on 19 carries. The Ravens have only allowed three opposing rushers to get to 100 yards. Cedric Benson did it twice, and Adrian Peterson made that once.